...I'll find citations ASAP. on Sonora Lounges

Selina Skies

August 23, 2021 7:28 PM

Staff Meeting by Selina Skies

The year always started with a staff meeting. Sometimes, there wasn't much to go over - just the incoming students, and any reminders of ongoing concerns. The look on Selina's face as the staff filed in suggested this was not going to be one of those meetings.

"Welcome back," she said, managing to soften her face a little, as she genuinely was pleased to see them, and meant her next remark whole-heartedly. "I hope you all had a pleasant summer.

"We are starting with some rather serious news," she confirmed what they all, by now, had to be thinking. She took a deep breath. "Over the summer, Xavier Lundstrom was diagnosed with Borderline Obscurialism. This is believed to be the reason behind his migraines and his lack of magical progress - he has developed some sort of resistence to the idea of his own magic and is turning it back on himself. As a precaution, he was removed from his family and placed in a goverment treatment facility for part of the summer." She had to swallow very hard before saying that, and several times throughout the sentence. Whatever suggestions there were in Xavier's file that this toxic attitude stemmed from his home life, her mind just automatically went to the thought of someone doing that to her and her girls, to sheer wrongness of that hapening or being necessary.

"Xavier will still be attending school here. I have not seen anything in the last year to suggest that he is a danger to others." And what she had seen, when visiting him to make that decision, was someone who absolutely did not want to stay where he was. "We will be implementing some specialist measures to try to help him, and we have been asked to monitor the correspondence with his family. Outside of that, I ask that you don't treat him any differently to how you would a student with poor magical control - yes, you should be keeping a close eye on him, but students will pick up on it if you are hovering over him or acting fearful around him. I would like to remind you that this is a medical matter, and should be treated with confidentiality.

"I'm not sure how much Xavier has processed about all of this. He's been very upset by the separatiom from his family." She studiously avoided the phrase 'He will need careful handling' even though she ordinarily might have used it about an emotional student. Any implication that the potentially self-destructive student was easily set off was not really going to help. Still, it was important that they knew not to expect the same student they had had in class last year.

"Grayson, I'd like to speak to you seprartely after this is over. Isis, you too. For now, are there any questions?"

Once she had dealt with any discussion from the main group, she dismissed them, asking Grayson to wait outside whilst she spoke to Isis.

"I think Xavier needs regular check ins with an adult on the social-emotional side. I'd expect you to be proactive rather than waiting for him to come to you, at least for these first few weeks.

"However, it was actually Oz I wanted to talk to you about." She pulled a file from the stack of notes she had come to the meeting with, and extracted from it a copy of the letter that had arrived at the Spellman household over the holidays. She held it out to Isis. "A student of his age resorting to accidental magic, and the fact that he needed to heal himself... I know kids get hurt, but still. It seems like it would be good to check what that was all about. Any questions?"

Once she was done with Isis, she called Gray back in.

"I just want to assure you that you're not obliged to get involved with this. And that, even if you do, it will be me who is signing off and reporting back to MACUSA." Her head was the one that would be put on a platter in the event of wrongdoing. "But I'd be very foolish not to ask for your opinions at the very least, given your track record. Can you tell me more about what you did with Evelyn?" She had checked in, of course, during the course of Evelyn's studies, but that had more been about progress and safety that the nitty gritty of the methods involved.

OOC: Anyone can reply to the main meeting. Isis and Gray can also respond to their individual parts.

Subthreads:

Interesting. by Osvaldo Alamilla with Killian Row

...I'll find citations ASAP. by Grayson Wright with Selina Skies

This sounds troublesome. by Giselle Duell with Selina Skies

13 Selina Skies Staff Meeting 26 1 5

Osvaldo Alamilla

August 23, 2021 10:02 PM

Interesting. by Osvaldo Alamilla

Osvaldo had the feeling this would be a slightly different staff meeting once again. There had been a few of them in his short time here, he wondered briefly what it would be this time around. Usually the interesting meetings weren't the first ones of the new year. He briefly wondered if it involved him. If it did, the Deputy-Headmistress didn't give it away as he found his way to a seat.

He nodded with vague indifference at her comment about the summer. He had of course spent it around the school, under it's protective bubble, making sure the prairie elves stayed on task in keeping everything in proper shape and getting the much needed maintenance done. Professor Skies dove straight in to the matter, and to his relief it did not involve him. Not that he actually thought it would have. He naturally made no sign of this relief, nor of how interesting this news was that she was bringing them. Outwardly he kept his normal placid composure, and even tried to work a mild amount of concern into his expression. Poor child...

Internally though, a potential Obscurial? That was quite interesting. He wasn't sure which of the children was 'Xavier Lundstrom', but that wouldn't be hard to find out. What he might be able to do with this information, he wasn't quite sure either... yet. It was a subject he would need to brush up on a bit since they didn't fall within his own specialty. Offhand, he knew they were quite rare and could be awfully destructive and those were two very interesting traits.

2 Osvaldo Alamilla Interesting. 1503 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 24, 2021 1:53 AM

...I'll find citations ASAP. by Grayson Wright

There were two things, Gray had learned in his life, which it was usually wise to learn about a boss as quickly as possible upon entering an employment situation. one was what the boss' usual demeanor was, and the other was how that demeanor changed when the boss was under various kinds of stress.

Knowing broad answers to those questions as they related to Selina Skies had Gray prepared for Something Sub-Optimal to be announced in the course of the start-of-the-year staff meeting, but not, it turned out, quite prepared enough. He stared at the Deputy Headmistress, clearly shocked and a bit horrified, as she told them both about Xavier Lundstrom's diagnosis and how his summer had gone. Gray had known the boy had a problem of some kind, that had gradually become obvious even before Xavier had described it, but he hadn't thought - hadn't imagined -

With an effort, he reined himself in before he could slip into a merry spiral of doom-thinking. For one thing, she had qualified the term - Borderline. That was an important detail. Without it, the odds were extraordinarily low that Xavier would have lived this long. For another, she was correct in pointing out that there was no evidence Xavier was a danger to himself or others, or at least no more of one than most kids were; he had gone a year without showing any real signs of imminent implosion or explosion.

Still, though - that had been before he'd found out there was a word for what was wrong with him, and possibly what it would mean if the condition progressed. The boy had to be terrified, Gray thought sympathetically, if he understood the tenth part of it all - and worse, terrified of himself. Which was just about the worst thing he could possibly be under the circumstances. These things seemed apt to get worse before they got better, but - this poor kid, this poor, poor kid....

He nodded a couple of times in unconscious approval as Selina offered the staff at large some advice for going forward, and then again when she said she wanted to speak to him separately after the meeting. That, at least, wasn't a surprise; he'd expected Xavier to be assigned to him, along with Mab possibly coming on voluntarily, this year anyway, before any of this had come out. He did hope, though, that the term 'specialist measures' included some ongoing consultation with an actual specialist. Gray was an increasingly enthusiastic amateur, but an amateur just the same, and this was a delicate, potentially dangerous situation.

Naturally, he wondered what secret instructions Isis was given, but dismissed speculation on the matter as useless before returning for his own conversation with Selina. The seriousness of the situation was underlined, he thought, by the contrast between how this was being handled and the rather more laissez-faire handling of Evelyn's situation, which made him wonder how much his alleged track record was really worth here, but he kept that thought to himself. It was quite obvious that Selina had more than enough on her mind without dealing with insecurities and doubts among her underlings too.

"Of course," he said when asked about his work with Evelyn. "Though I'm afraid it wasn't a very systematic program - I just dug around for exercises, and sometimes I just made some up, until we found things that worked. Meditation and visualization exercises can help some students learn to focus the correct way, or help with wand-bonding or emotional control, and I can give you my notes on that kind of thing, and the notes I started on Xavier last year, of course, but - " he'd begun talking a bit too fast in the last clause of his sentence, he noticed. "May I speak frankly?" he asked, a touch nervously, though he resisted the usual temptation to fiddle with his glasses.

"I won't elaborate, but I assume you know a lot of Evelyn's problems - they were based out of experiences of neglect and abuse," he said bluntly. "I did all I could for Evelyn, and I'm willing to try with Xavier if you think that's the best, best plan, but in the end - Evelyn's the one who did the real work. She had to come to terms with what had happened to her, and unlearn - vile things - she'd, she'd been told, that she was convinced were true. I couldn't do that for her. I would have if I could, but - well. You probably knew that. That some of it, the psychological things, he'll have to sort those out himself." He gave into the temptation to adjust his glasses. "With Evelyn, one of the major - hurdles - was that she was afraid of men - even half-blind nerds who I doubt you'll correct me for saying couldn't intimidate a flobberworm under normal circumstances. It took a while to build up enough rapport for her to trust me. Obviously Xavier's case is different, but I expect that's as close to a universal thing as there is with this - that he'll need to feel as safe as possible with anyone he's doing one-on-one work with. I don't know what that looks like for him, but - " he shrugged. "If you know - anything else about who or what might be the cause of his trouble, that could be something to consider, as far as what we can do to create a good environment for him to work out the psychological parts. Oh, and with Evelyn - I have no idea if this is supported by research or not," he clarified quickly, not wanting to come across as so much as a hair more of an authority than he was, "but I didn't, didn't demand anything - I asked her to write down anything she wanted me to know up front, or thought I needed to know up front, in our first session, but beyond that, I mostly left the talking up to her."

"Beyond that - for what it's worth, I thought you gave good advice," he added. "Especially about not behaving as though we're afraid of him - I'd also add trying to avoid showing it if we're angry or frustrated. I can't prove this, but I think it's helped before that I don't react much when students lash out." He supposed he'd gotten something out of his experiences as the worst Keeper in the history of Aladren Quidditch after all. "I'll go through old notes and books tonight after I get the first years settled, write you up something more coherent, and with citations," he added, feeling that was probably the part he should have said first and stuck with.

16 Grayson Wright ...I'll find citations ASAP. 113 0 5

Giselle Duell

August 25, 2021 5:23 PM

This sounds troublesome. by Giselle Duell

Nothing. Nothing more all summer. Had it all just been some stupid trick of Andrew's? No, there had been enough other confirmations, through other means. By the time the end of summer had rolled around, Giselle had pretty much given up on anything to do with that odd prophecy. Whatever it was would happen when it wanted to and there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She'd done her best to put it all out of her mind.

As such she made her way to the start of year staff meeting feeling… well certainly not triumphant, but at least not the bundle of nerves she had been at the end of last year. As she found a seat, she took notice of the odd atmosphere of the room. Something was off.

Selina started off by addressing the problem. Unfortunately Giselle was not familiar with the term, but it sounded bad. There was only so much she could glean from the statements that the Deputy-Headmistress made, and that started up a conflict inside her. How foolish would she look asking what that was? She knew most of the magical community thought her expertise was meaningless, how much would this confirm such suspicions? On the other hand, her entire education had been about discovering every bit of knowledge possible. And a fairly significant turning point in her life had been reached when she discovered a small bit of rather vital missing, or closely concealed from her, bit of information.

She would rather that not happen again. So in what was an unusually firm and clear voice she asked aloud, "I haven't heard of that term before. What exactly is 'Obscurialism'?"

2 Giselle Duell This sounds troublesome. 1517 0 5

Selina Skies

August 26, 2021 8:08 AM

In bibliography we trust by Selina Skies

There were notes. Of course there were. The slight reassurance brought by Grayson’s book-keeping was promptly dampened by his request to speak frankly—something she didn’t think he would dare to do under most circumstances, and which made her wonder what she was about to hear.

“Of course,” she nodded. What followed was a set information she already knew, although it was never pleasant to go over it again. She nodded at the appropriate points in Grayson’s speech, surprised to find so much compassion and understanding of human feeling under, as he himself had put it, a half-blind nerd.

“But it worked. And it could be systematised,” Selina pointed out. She suspected that was a more comforting way of phrasing it than ‘that’s what happens when you have to make the broom whilst still flying it but hey ho.’ Especially to an Aladren. “As much as any of these things can be—as you say, there’s an element of the personal, and Xavier’s choices about it all will have to come into play.”

She shuffled her already tidy pile of notes, her jaw tense at his next question.

“They had some theories. There’s a full report to follow in a week or so, but during the course of my conversation with them, they talked about how this sort of thing usually starts at home. It’s almost impossible for anyone who’s not a parent or guardian to exert that much influence over a child’s psychological state. Occasionally a teacher or community figure with whom the child has a particularly intense relationship, but there isn’t anyone like that in Xavier’s history. They mentioned strong anti-magic sentiments and religious extremism from his mother during their interview. That’s going to be a major difference between him and Evelyn. I don’t pretend to know all the details of her case, but I get the impression she was ready to step away? And that, even then, it could be challenging for her to feel sure that was the right thing to do. Xavier wants to be with his family. He’s been asking for his mom a lot,” she said, her voice very small.

“It’s worth rather a lot actually, thank you,” she smiled, when he voiced his positive thoughts towards her advice. There was the human need that everyone had for affirmation, especially in difficult times, plus she also felt that people were far more likely to follow instructions that made sense to them—especially Aladrens. Overall, Grayson was really saying a lot of the things she believed about how to approach the situation.

“Thank you. I’d like to say that won’t be necessary… Like I said, we’ll be getting through a report, and MACUSA are going to have a certain amount of involvement, whether it’s working directly with Xavier or just checking up on what we’re doing. However, I rather suspect that being able to present them a solid game plan would encourage them to leave us to it, so I’d appreciate whatever you’re able to provide.”

13 Selina Skies In bibliography we trust 26 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 26, 2021 1:56 PM

Alleleuia, amen to that. by Grayson Wright

"Exactly," said Gray, relieved by Selina's summation of what he'd said. "Sorry if I was - talking too much like an essay there." He'd felt he had almost cut too close to the point, leaving out far too many qualifying statements and explanations, but he'd wanted to avoid going on so long that she forgot what he was trying to elaborate on ex tempore in the first place. He also had gathered that some people thought thoroughness and honest estimation of one's capabilities was evidence of incompetence, and he'd rather not seem less capable than he was, modest though he believed his knowledge and abilities to be in the first place. "Didn't want to - I'd rather be too clear than not clear enough."

He was surprised when she actually elaborated on what was known about Xavier's case; he hadn't even meant the statement presuming she did know more as a question. However, while he hadn't meant to pry, he also wasn't going to turn down information. Even if it was somewhat...concerning...information.

"Hm. Yes. Evelyn had...complicated feelings about her family - and if anyone I ever met had the right to just despise a couple of people and move on - " Well, that wasn't relevant now, and he had enough Crotalus traits from his parents that he suspected Selina would find any open display of emotion almost as uncomfortable as he would find being openly angry in front of his employer. "Well. One interesting thing, Evelyn was interested in religion and mythology - just as a subject, though, world religions generally, I don't think her parents had anything to do with it. Still - Muggle religious people, they've been, eh, more hostile than not to us for a few centuries now, haven't they? If Xavier's also religious, it might be good if he could meet other wizards who are, too, to counterbalance any negative associations - though that's just throwing ideas at the wall, of course," he qualified quickly. "From what you were saying about monitoring correspondence, I assume he's allowed to write with his family still? Might be for the best...I'm guessing there's always a trade-off here. Having some bad reactions now is probably inevitable one way or the other, and it's - I'd recommend not acting like we approve or disapprove of all this in front of him when he still doesn't see a problem with it. Even if he does see a problem, us judging now might just prolong the agony...your House might be different," he acknowledged. "But I was speaking to another student about Houses once last year, and I think Pecari might be more like mine than you'd think - and the best way to get most of us to stick to a position is to tell us you've decided we'd be better off taking the other one, even if we know you're right. Illogical, but..." He shrugged, dismissing the irregularity of the foible with the gesture.

He was relieved, he had to admit to himself, that Selina seemed pleased he'd seen fit to offer an opinion on her advice instead of being offended that he'd presumed to do so. He nodded as she elaborated on why old information might be helpful. "I'll get that done as soon as I can, then," he promised. "May I also say I, eh, I admire your...not wanting to just completely outsource the problem? Real expert advice, that's good, but I have to admit - I, er, I've not had the best opinion of MACUSA when it's dealing with the students since I started working with Evelyn." It was probably, he thought, best not to tell his boss that he'd considered writing a formal complaint to the courts, the prisons, and everyone else involved when they'd allowed That Scumbag to send Evelyn a letter which had constituted blatant emotional blackmail. It was definitely best not to tell his boss that he had considered writing said complaints and enchanting the parchments to curse some of the recipients. That would have been unprofessional as well as (depending on the curse in question) probably at least mildly illegal, and he wasn't entirely sure how well Selina would take to the information that one of her employees was capable of either unprofessional or criminal thought even before he considered that he'd heard that at least one of his predecessors as Head of Aladren had apparently ended up in prison shortly after vacating the position.

16 Grayson Wright Alleleuia, amen to that. 113 0 5

Selina Skies

August 27, 2021 5:23 AM

And a healthy dose of skepticism against officials by Selina Skies

He was sorry if he had talked too much like an essay. Selina was quite surprised by this summary, given that she felt his assessment had actually shown a lot of heart. Still, she suspected there was a maximum number of affirmations she could offer Grayson in a single conversation before he died of embarassment. It also felt odd to offer forgiveness for what might have been a hypothetical apology.

"People express themselves in all different ways," she said instead, hoping that made it clear that whatever way he chose to organise he thoughts was okay with her, so long as he had the right idea at heart.

"Yes, gently deconstructing the idea that everything has to be either/or sounds like it would help. Letting him know there are lots of different types of magical people, and he can build his own identity out of whatever parts he likes." Isis and Killian could be useful parts on that front, she susepcted. The former because she was an expert in showing how the two worlds could mix together, the latter because he was in charge-ish of some social emotional stuff.

She nodded in response to being allowed to write to his family.

"Agreed," she said, regarding conducting themselves with a non-judgemental attitude. "We have an advantage there, I suppose, in that we won't be the ultimate decision makers. We don't need to get drawn into discussions with him about when he can see his family again and whether that's right or wrong. We will pass that on higher up, and what we'll be focussing on is making sure he's getting better control.

"Thank you." She had to swallow a lump in her throat before she said it. The professional guard dropped just enough to show relief. She had been sure that people like Nathan and Mary would be on her side. She had thought Grayson might be a tougher nut to crack. Even after his work with Evelyn... She wasn't sure how much he had wanted to do that versus it just happening to him. Or rather, she suspected it was the latter, and couldn't be sure of the ways it had changed his outlook. "MACUSA is such a huge and sprawling thing that it can probably never be all good, and hopefully never all bad..." Her husband and her daughter still worked there, and she believed in what they did, though she refrained from saying this to Grayson in case it sounded like a rebuke. Her brother had worked there. She believed they could have done better there, and that if they had, that sentence would not be in the past tense. "But in this particular case... How's he going to feel like he belongs if we act like we don't want him? He very clearly didn't want to be left where he was. He wanted to go home, of course, but coming back to school still ranked more highly than staying on a medical ward. I'm not saying he feels fully settled or at home here, but I never got the impression he was clawing at the walls to get out."

13 Selina Skies And a healthy dose of skepticism against officials 26 0 5

Grayson Wright

August 27, 2021 6:22 PM

Trust but verify, as they say. by Grayson Wright

"True enough," Gray agreed with a faint, none-too-confident hint of a smile when told that people expressed themselves in different ways. That...sounded, at least, like she wasn't irked, which meant she probably didn't think he'd sounded condescending while explaining things that she might have already mostly known, or at least reasonably deduced. Therefore, they were probably all right and that was good.

Building one's own identity - that was an interesting idea. Admittedly it was one of those words he'd never quite been able to grasp outside of a literal, government paperwork sort of definition (he wasn't entirely sure he'd even known it had another meaning before he'd come back to Sonora, where students seemed a lot more politically aware than he thought they'd been in his day, and a lot more comfortable talking about subjects that he was fairly sure had not regularly been brought to the table in the ancient wilds of nearly thirty years ago), but he'd gotten the impression that it was something one was more or less stuck with. You could come to terms with it or not, but it was just sort of...there, wasn't it? Xavier couldn't simply choose to believe something or not; persuasion didn't work that way (if it had, he'd probably have convinced himself he really wanted to be married fifteen or so years ago, just to relieve his parents of their discomfort with how he'd...been entirely content with his life at the time). He would have put the boy's problem more in terms of hopefully finding a way that worked for him to integrate and be comfortable with two of the hands life had dealt him.

At the moment, though, something that could just be a matter of semantics wasn't something they had time for, so he dismissed the issue. Selina probably knew more of what she was talking about there than he did anyway, since she was close with Tarquin and Tarquin was invested enough in the issue to have Pamphlets, and in any case, it sounded like they were hoping for the same outcome either way. That made it appropriate to just nod and carry on to the next point.

"Yes...though that can get..." He made a vague sort of gesture to fill in for words while he was thinking for a second. "Maybe, maybe I should have discouraged it, I don't know, but after a while, with Evelyn, she started coming to me when things were going wrong in general, instead of just when things were going wrong with magic," he admitted cautiously. "Not that the two aren't related, most magical processing disorders have emotional disturbances at their cores, from what I've read. It might be inevitable, that he might force the subject on us, refuse to work without having his say or that kind of thing, is what I'm talking in circles around. Mostly I just let Evelyn rant and said it was all right to however she was feeling about it. Which you might have already thought of - it was just something I didn't see coming or know how to handle at first, since it didn't occur to me at first that a student would ever cast me of all people in a mentor role," he explained. "I ended up using a book on how to deal with someone in mourning for ideas."

He nodded again at the summation of MACUSA and the relative virtues of Sonora versus a medical facility. "Quite. And I think he really does want to learn, if he hasn't been terrified out of his mind by learning what's gone wrong with him - he came to Charms office hours sometimes last year, and I took the opportunity to ask him about what he thought of the situation and how he experienced it. It seemed to cheer him up when I admitted once that I wasn't very good at wandwork my first year, either - though in my case I just wasn't paying attention. He had some luck, though, with making more of a conscious effort to make his wand part of the technique instead of it just being a stick he was waving around - I've seen a few Pecaris who've had trouble bonding with their wands, though usually not as bad as this, of course. It might be something we should look out for with Muggleborn Pecaris in particular, or maybe you and I and Isis should get together sometime and discuss strategy for Beginners in general sometime...because more work is exactly what you need, I'm sure," he added ruefully. "Though that does remind me - if you ever want a hand with your academic support group, I can do that," he offered. "I hope I'm not overstepping my place there - there or with anything else I've said. I...guess it's fair to say I've gotten a bit invested over time," he admitted.

OOC:

16 Grayson Wright Trust but verify, as they say. 113 0 5

Selina Skies

August 28, 2021 9:32 PM

I was considering it more 'worrisome' by Selina Skies

Selina was surprised when Giselle spoke up. A little of that surprise came from the gap in Giselle’s knowledge, but Selina quickly checked herself - people came from a variety of cultural and educational backgrounds, and there were certainly things Giselle knew a lot about that Selina didn’t. She was more suprirsed that Giselle had spoken up to admit this ignorance, given that she was always seemed reserved as a rule, and keen to please. Admitting to not knowing something was often challenging, and Selina tried to take it as a sign that Giselle felt comfortable. Of course, Giselle could also sometimes be overly blunt without realising she was being so, and this might just have been one of those times, but Selina liked to focus on the positive possibility.

“An obscurial is when a person’s magic starts turning against them, usually due to a refusal to acknowledge their magical identity. The power can become dark, uncontrolled and destructive. Essentially, it’s the physical answer to ‘why must children be sent to school to learn to control their magic?’”

“In full blown cases, a parasite called an obscurus manifests in the host’s body and destroys it. At the moment, Xavier is considered ‘borderline’ - he has not developed this parasite, but he shows a number of red flags which suggest he is rejecting his magic, and wrestling with his identity. The hope is if we can train his skills properly, he won’t reach that stage.” It was pretty horrible saying it out loud, but there was no sense sugar-coating the truth. MACUSA had not sugar-coated it with Xavier, and having any of the staff less informed than he was, should he choose to go on a rant to them, was not going to be fair on anyone.

“Any further questions?”

13 Selina Skies I was considering it more 'worrisome' 26 0 5

Giselle Duell

August 29, 2021 7:25 AM

Hmm.... perhaps. by Giselle Duell

That certainly didn't sound good. Giselle's first thoughts during Selina's explanation would have been something along the lines of wonder why she hadn't learned anything about this in school. The school was most definitely focused more on the subject of divinations than that of the the dark powers that existed in the world. She may also have wondered if Lia had intentionally kept the information away from her from some reason. That may have been a worrisome thought.

However, these thoughts were not the ones to pass immediately though her mind, they would come later. As Giselle listened to Selina's explanation, a few words caught her attention and brought all other thoughts to a halt. "So," she began in response to Selina's prompt for 'any further questions' recalling the meeting she had had with the woman at the start of last year. "This could possibly be the emergence of some new, dark, bad power?" She had used the same phrasing that she had used during that meeting to hopefully stimulate the woman's own memory of the meeting. To the best of her own knowledge, Giselle didn't thing her prediction had gotten shared with more of the staff, she'd wanted a little more information on the subject than she'd been able to glean first.

This wasn't 'news' or at least it shouldn't be. They'd known all of last year about this... if only she'd been able to figure it out, maybe they could have helped the boy earlier. She for one knew all about psychological torments. Selina's mention of him being removed from his family seemed to indicate that was where the problem was, and that struck another chord with her. Isolation was not a positive factor either. "Who does he have for friends here at school?" The question was a bit quieter. "If he has lost his family..." Her voice faded, then a moment later she asked, "Can anything be done for them?"

2 Giselle Duell Hmm.... perhaps. 1517 0 5

Killian Row

August 29, 2021 4:03 PM

Tragic. by Killian Row

Killian was always an ink-stained, messy-haired, tired mess at new year staff meetings. For most of his time at Sonora, it had been because he had spent the lead up time getting ready, writing documents and letters and notes, filing, organizing, and generally just diving back into his work. Now, it was because he was doing all those things and also recovering from the inevitable exhaustion that came from traveling through a number of timezones and being busy all summer. Ema's endurance for travel absolutely rivaled his own, and that wasn't something he could say about many people. He stifled a yawn then as he took a seat beside Osvaldo, his notetaking supplies landing on the table in front of him as he did.

This news was bad, potentially very bad. It was the sort of news that was so famously bad that it could go without saying, and bad news that could go without saying at a staff meeting for staff of a school for magical children had to be pretty dang bad. He was scrabbling every resource and idea that came to mind, and writing his questions in two categories (questions to follow up on and questions to mind his own business about) when the meeting ended and Gray and Isis were kept back. Killian gave Selina a friendly and vaguely familial nod as he scooped his belongings back up and walked out of the room with Osvaldo.

"I'm glad I'm not a teacher," he acknowledged to his fellow non-faculty staff member, a crooked smile landing on his tired face. "Everything looks beautiful by the way, you did a great job this summer, as usual."

22 Killian Row Tragic. 1450 0 5

Osvaldo Alamilla

August 30, 2021 9:00 PM

Oh, yes. Of course. Very. by Osvaldo Alamilla

Mr. Row was certainly a very, energetic, fellow. Osvaldo supposed that was a benefit for a man in his position. He did not envy the guidance councilor's job in the least. The man seemed nearly frantic when the news was broken to them, scribbling notes and such the entire time. It had made him tired just to watch. Still, it did make him wonder if the man might be an interesting resource on the subject. Surely he knew a lot about the children, and judging by his actions during the meeting would undoubtedly be doing some research of his own. That might make his own life easier.

As he left the room after the meeting, which thankfully he didn't need to stay after for a private conference, he was sure to allow Mr. Row to catch him. Ordinarily small talk was utterly loathsome to him, however on occasion it could have it's uses. If employed correctly. He nodded at Mr. Row's comment while taking notice of the tired expression on his face. "Indeed, I do not envy the task the teachers have before them this year. Although I suspect you will have more interactions with the lad than I will." Osvaldo had no idea when the children started interacting with Mr. Row, but his response may give a clue. He was working off the assumption that Xavier was one of the younger students, but he couldn't really be certain.

"Thank-you." He nodded in acceptance of the Guidance Councillor's complement. "I have discovered that getting things ready for the school year is the easy part of the job though." He did his best to give Mr. Row a knowing smile. "Maintaining everything while the... students are here is often the more challenging part." He seemed to think for a moment, "This boy, he is not one of the Pecari is he? They seem to be the ones I need to interact with the most." Hopefully this line of conversation might narrow down the children a bit more.

2 Osvaldo Alamilla Oh, yes. Of course. Very. 1503 0 5

Selina Skies

September 01, 2021 6:59 PM

Hadn't heard that, but it's a good one by Selina Skies

"I wouldn't ever want to discourage a student who's bringing us the things that trouble them. I mean, unless it's getting to the point that they need referring to a professional, or aren't respecting reasonable personal boundaries." That was a juggling act, and a potential training session all in its own right. Hopefully it was enough of an approximate rule to go by to let Grayson know he'd done right, and to make sure he didn't overstep or get overstepped on. "I'm not saying Xavier won't ask or disclose things. I'm saying we'll be the role of a listening ear, rather than the judge on that information. It sounds like you found the right kind of thing to say." Grayson's remark was already the kind of balance she was trying to suggest. "Mourning's not a bad way of looking at it. Grief isn't just for death, it's for all types of loss. Someone leaving you behind, or having to let go of an idea or an ideal you had of someone. I suspect a lot of our non-magical parents go through some degree of it, or at least a very sharp adjustment process. A lot of the plans they might have had for their child are suddenly off the table." Her mind drifted back to Jessica's family, and she wondered whether the MACUSA representatives had crossed paths with something similar in Mrs. Lundstrom. And whose side she would be on if so. Of course, Jessica's parents had come around without her imploding (though if anyone had ever seemed likely to...).

"If it prevents more work in the future, it's worth it." That was always assuming she could find time. It was one of those things about time-saving measures - they always required an investment of the time that you didn't have in order to get them going.

"Definitely not overstepping," she promised him, with a smile. "For a while, we just had the odd student who struggled with practical magic... Then it was the odd one who struggled with theory. Now it seems to always be a solid handful of both. It hasn't gone unnoticed that you've stepped up and are dealing with a lot of that. I wonder whether we need to put in a proposal to the board about restructuring how we do some of that... Not before you start helping, seeing as you already are and I appreciate it a lot. But a career tip for you, don't take on substantial extra work without asking what you'll get for it. Be that equipment to do the job, a training budget for yourself, or a pay rise."

13 Selina Skies Hadn't heard that, but it's a good one 26 0 5

Selina Skies

September 03, 2021 5:22 AM

Also perhaps by Selina Skies

The way Giselle phrased it was Very Seer-esque. Which, of course, did join Selina’s mind back to the other times that she and Giselle had had conversations about dark and mystical forces. She hesitated, her mind-pedalling from the ‘he’s just a child’ type statements it had jumped to. She knew Giselle had been preoccupied with this prophecy. Whatever Selina believed about that, and however much she wanted to humanise Xavier, she had to consider how to handle Giselle too.

“Not yet. Right now, Xavier is just a student with extreme difficulties focussing his magic. But yes, there is a possibility of it going that way.” She hoped that acknowledged Giselle’s concerns, whilst sounding neutral and factual enough that everyone else didn’t start getting caught up in those ideas. She was not even ruling out the possibility that Giselle was right, and that she had Seen something that related to this. However, knowing about something and knowing what to do about it were two very different things, and prophecies were very slippery things when it came to colouring people’s opinions.

Giselle’s next question surprised her for how down to earth and practical it was.

“I believe the measure of taking him away from his family is temporary. It’s been done to make sure that a delicate situation does not progress to the point at which it would become very, very bad - possibly irreparably so. However, Xavier is still allowed to communicate with them, provided we monitor those interactions. I’ve already reached out to his mother. IWe can work with Xavier on his magic, and with his family on understanding more about it.

“As for friends, I believe he shared a tent with Hansel and the Spellman twins at the bonfire. Hansel seems very kind, and the twins are from a non-magical household but doing perfectly well with their spellwork, so hopefully that will encourage him.” She chose her words carefully, to avoid uttering anything that remotely resembled the words ‘I’m sure Oz will be a good influence’ because that didn’t sound at all credible. However, whatever his track record on behaviour and homework, Oz did at least handle the practical elements of his classes well enough.

13 Selina Skies Also perhaps 26 0 5